


How Festive

by apologycatastrophe



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: AU?, Blood, Breaking and Entering, Cannibalism, Dubious Ethics, Gore, Halloween, Horror, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Paranoia, Personal Takes on Characters, Stalking, Violence, dubious touching
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 03:27:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17134127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apologycatastrophe/pseuds/apologycatastrophe
Summary: You and your friend get ready for Halloween and eventually plan a movie marathon with some of their friends. Though an absolute paranoid wreck, you adore the season but unfortunately for you, that paranoia of yours seems to have been cranked up 10 fold. You can't seem to shake the feeling of being watched, not to mention all the weird shit that's been happening around you lately.At least its just a feeling though. Right?(Update schedule is non-existent, I post in short bouts of creative energy. Chapters may also be edited as time goes on.)





	1. October 24th

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction in 2 years so my apologies if it seems worse than your average AO3 fanfic.

Halloween was always your favorite of holidays. Whether it be the carved pumpkins or the looming scarecrows, the festivity of it all was so enjoyable you couldn’t help but get carried away with it.

 You had always enjoyed dressing up for the events that took place and watching movies with your friends after going out trick or treating. But for as much as you enjoyed the aesthetic, scary things really did have a tendency to freak you out.

 

To call you a scaredy cat would be a compliment. You could hear a strange noise in the middle of the night and be on edge till the morning. Paranoia was always a problem for you, but after seeing or hearing something even mildly strange or disturbing, it felt as if that paranoia struck you tenfold and you simply could not shake the feeling of fright that washed through your bones.

  
But Halloween wasn’t all complete scares at least. Carving cat faces into pumpkins with your friend was definitely the highlight of today, even if your friend would probably argue against that, saying what occurred immediately after was far more worthy of being a highlight.

 

You had just finished scooping your pumpkin of its innards when you had heard some rustling in the immense amount of foliage behind where you sat on the side of the patio.

  
You were at your friend’s house; they had invited you over to carve pumpkins for next week and bake the seeds into a snack for the following movie marathon that would occur after the party you both had planned. Although late in the day when they had invited you, at least 4 pm, you couldn’t decline such a nice offer.

 

Immediately you were on edge after hearing the noises from behind you, feeling your chest tighten at the mere sounds. You saw your friend quirk their brow and all you could manage was to gesture behind you in your panicked state.

  
Their confusion did not cease, only intensifying as your gesturing grew more frantic. The rustling continued to grow louder, and you were stuck between bolting off screaming and staying there in pure paralyzed fear. Your body sided with the latter and all you could do was tense up and close your eyes as the rustling got severely close to where you sat.

 

And then-

 

Silence.

 

Absolute silence filled the area to the point it became far eerier than the rustling. The birds had silenced themselves, any kids down the block had gone quiet, no cars passed by the street.

  
It was as if the entire neighborhood had gone mute, just for this moment. And man did that scare you shitless. After all, a cease in rustling meant whatever was there had stopped moving, and that meant it was at its destination. Which was right behind you.

You opened your eyes, stood and whipped around, a shriek of sorts making its way through your lungs as you backed up and away from the overgrown bush. It wasn’t until you knocked into something did you realize this was absolutely the worst course of action, especially with you realizing absolutely nothing was behind you aside from the shrubbery.

You felt your world slip below you as you came tumbling down onto your ass, screaming. Right onto the pumpkin guts.

 

It took you a moment to calm down after that, your friend cackling at your misfortune. They were near screaming from laughter, tears budding in their eyes.

 

“Please quit your hollering and maybe worry about what prompted me to act like an idiot? There's something in your fucking bushes!” You weren’t nearly as angry as you sounded, in fact, you were far more scared than anything.

Their laughter didn’t cease, though they did begin to stand. Something you felt grateful for amongst the fear.

 

“I don’t think messing with the bushes would be a great idea, last time I did that I got stung by a bug of some sort. Besides, it's probably just a stray cat, I’ve seen them out and about around here lately.” They said, looking down at you glaring at them. They ignored it and carried on.

  
“You were finished carving your pumpkin though, right? Just adding some whiskers?” They asked, holding out a hand to help you up. You took it graciously.

  
“Yeah, I’m lucky I didn’t have the knife in my hand though, lord knows what would have happened if I did.”  
You began to dust yourself off after standing upright. It would be foolish to assume your ass wasn’t orange at the moment. Festive but truly unfortunate.

A brief moment of silence passed, aside from their giggling, as you figured how you could maybe persuade them into inspecting the bushes so you could prove to your mind it truly was simply an animal.

 

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be best to check in the bushes though? I know it was probably some animal but still.”

“Nothing is stopping you from checking yourself if it’s bothering you that badly, (Y/n).”  
  
You could feel your brows knitting as you considered it but if all things were taken into account, if you looked in that bush you were damn well sure you were going to regret it.

 

“I’d rather not. Should we start getting the seeds ready for baking now?” You asked, heaving your pumpkin up and setting it on the porch to be taken back home with you later. They did the same as they answered.

 

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I’ll start while you clean up the mess you made, there's no way in hell I’m cleaning that from the pavement when I had no part in it.” They said with their voice laced with joking arrogance. You narrowed your eyes at them for their, in your opinion, very unfunny jests.

 

“Can I at least borrow some pants?”

 

It had been at least 15 minutes since the ‘pumpkin ass incident’, as your friend playfully coined it, but that same unease that screamed at you earlier was still there, albeit toned down quite a bit.   

After ridding yourself of your dirtied pants, you made your way into the kitchen to ask your friend which pair of pants you could borrow.

It probably wasn’t the greatest idea to walk around their house with no pants on but it wasn’t too unusual for the two of you to see the other in their undergarments. After all, as cliche as it sounded, they were practically your best friend in the whole wide world.

You made it to the kitchen to see them washing the seeds, ridding them of any slimy orange that still lingered on them. They had their back facing you and didn’t quite seem to notice you were even there. Immediately, a wonderful idea popped into your head.

 

You slowly walked over to them. Your hands drawing out like a predator about to rip into its prey, the look on your face was excited, to say the least as you felt premature glee for finally being able to get back at them.

As you neared them, you felt the same unease you had earlier by the bushes. You had absolutely no clue why until you looked out the window that sat behind the sink in front of you.

Blue; something of a very deep blue color was there and gone in a flash. How far it was from the house you had no clue, but it was too terribly close for your comfort.

It couldn’t have been a car, the window didn’t face a road. It faced the backyard where the woods began, and there was nothing blue in sight at the current moment. The greenery of the trees and undergrowth surely made the color pop out, explaining why you saw it so easily just a few seconds prior.

Your mind came to a horrible conclusion; something was watching you. You had no time to reason with it as you were drawn straight from your thoughts to your friend turning.  
  
“Boo!” They shouted, hands drawn out in the same fashion yours were not even 30 seconds ago. You gasped, tumbling back at the sudden noise and movement, falling, once again, straight onto your ass.

Their cackling from before had resumed and you felt very pitiful at that moment. Huffing, you narrowed your eyes at them.  
  
“Ok, first off, fuck you for ruining what was supposed to be my evening of the score, and second, something is outside and you need to deal with that, so stop laughing and get to it.” You stated, trying to keep your voice from wavering but it did against your efforts. They continued their laughing fit against your wishes, though at least they weren’t near hollering this time.  
  
You picked yourself from the floor, your behind was aching now with all the falling you had done in less than an hour. Their laughter had finally died down to a chuckle as they looked you over.

 

“Oh shit, are you ok? It was funny and all but hitting the ground that much has got to hurt.” They asked. Their once joyful face had turned to one of concern and you felt a little better, feeling reassured that they did care about you even if they got enjoyment from your misfortune.

 

“It hurts but I’ll live, nothing some ibuprofen won’t help.” You said, not wanting them to worry too much. Their worried expression changed near instantaneously, now changing to a look of relief.

“Well thank god your ass isn’t broken. Any reason you don’t have pants on also? I said you could borrow mine, do none fit you?”

 

“I wanted to ask you which pair I could wear, didn’t want to take something you wouldn’t want anyone else but you wearing.” You said a little sheepishly, not realizing that they probably would’ve been fine with whatever you picked out.  
  
 “Just pick out whatever, I really couldn’t give less of a shit since its just you.”  
They rustled your hair a bit, however, you nearly had to fight the urge to push them back as you remembered what caused you to pause your attempt to scare them.

“Ok, ok, enough messing with my hair. I saw something outside and that's what stopped me in my tracks from totally scaring you shitless.” You explained as they finally stopped their playful gesture.

“You sure it wasn’t just a deer? Or a bird? They’ve been seen far more out in the open recently, at least in this part of town.” They attempted to reason with you.

“No, like, it was blue, and nothing in your backyard or the woods is blue. It was too fast to be a bird and I’ve never heard of a blue deer in my entire life.” You stood your ground. You could let the pumpkin ass incident go but this you weren’t going to, it was scaring you too much.

 

They seemed a bit taken aback by your assertiveness, it wasn’t a common tone to accompany you. After the initial surprise, however, a shit-eating grin made its way to their face.

 

“You’re right, (Y/n). We should absolutely go check the backyard for that blue bitch, who absolutely exists and poses a serious threat to us all. In fact, let's do it right now while my hands have pumpkin guts on them and you are pantless” You could hear the sarcasm absolutely tainting their words as the sound of their voice met your ears.  
You grew to feel very embarrassed by how something so small as a color could make you so terribly paranoid.

Apparently, your shame made itself present on your expression, as your friend sighed and patted your shoulder.

“Look, I’m sorry for giving you a hard time with your paranoia and shit, but seriously, you can’t expect me to just go along with all of it when we have better things to do. Such as wash orange off seeds and put pants on. And also wash my patio.” They ended with a playful smile but you still couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed they were making you do that all by yourself.

  
Still, you felt as if you had calmed down a bit from the fear that once pulsed through your veins far stronger only moments ago.  
You nodded to show you understood, you were far too afraid your voice would waver if you spoke. They gave you a thumbs up, using their other hand to turn you to the doorway and give you a gentle push.

  
“Now go get some pants, champ! Cleaning a patio is far less efficient in your panties!” And now you felt like slapping them.

 

And now here you were, in the dark with a hose in hand as you washed your friend's patio of orange. When you initially started, you honestly didn’t think it’d take more than 10 or 15 minutes but unfortunately for you, pumpkin guts and concrete really love sticking together after less than 20 minutes.  
  
So, in short, you were stuck outside for what felt like an hour, hoping to god that the hose would maybe build up some higher water pressure from being in use for so long, only to find that it did not do this in the slightest. Unfortunate.

 

It was a miracle that in this amount of time you hadn’t been too paranoid about the previous events, your friend had really helped put some of that fear to rest. Or so you thought until you realized that it had grown very dark outside thanks to how late in autumn it was.  
Truly magnificent, now you were stuck out in the dark until you finished cleaning orange from the pavement.  
  
Luckily for you, however, it seemed that you were almost done. About 5 more minutes and all that would remain were faint remnants of pumpkin guts in the grass and a ton of water.  
And then, like always, you just had to hear a suspicious noise.  
  
You whipped your head toward the direction of the sound, it seemed to appear like something was scurrying about. Of course, there was absolutely nothing there but that didn’t do anything to quell your nerves at all.  
You felt like you were being watched and my oh my, was that quite most possibly the worst feeling of them all. You had to finish this quick, you didn’t want to be out for any longer than you had to.  
  
So with new vigor, you hosed the patio as fast as you could without turning to see what the hell the noises you were hearing were. They were all just figments of your imagination, you told yourself, busying any paranoid urge to look behind you by humming a song.  
  
As you expected, it didn’t take too much longer to hose down the rest of the orange off and you were left feeling satisfied with your work, even if it did take far longer than intended. You turned the hose off and dropped it, you’d put it back later.  
  
You stepped back and stretched a bit. Your back was slightly tense from your previous posture after all. And then, for the third time in the day, you tumbled down once more. Only this time you caught yourself.  
  
Just as your bottom half almost hit the ground you steadied and kept yourself from falling. An absolute miracle you would’ve thought if it hadn’t been for wondering what the hell you slipped on.  
So, as you stood, you directed your gaze toward your feet. And then you gagged at the sight.  
  
A rabbit’s corpse lay beneath your shoe, blood covering the general spot. You felt like vomiting at the sight, and the smell making its way to your nose made the urge to hurl all the worse.  
You carefully picked your foot up, hoping no entrails would be attached to your shoe. Luckily, none were but they were absolutely blood stained, no doubt about that for sure.  
  
You decided it might not be a good idea to keep the shoe on as you’d track blood around. So you took it off, leaving your left foot shoeless with only a sock covering it.  
You placed the shoe next to the small animal's lifeless body, which you paid careful attention to not touch at all.  
  
And then came the next train of thoughts; what in god’s name left a dead rabbit behind you and why. Your first reaction was obviously the wildest and most unlikely one, that someone had left it there as a warning. Although it scared you deeply, you brushed it off as that was absolutely insane.

  
Your friend did say stray cats were far more out and about recently, it was very likely one of them could have seen you and decided to leave you some sort of gift, you supposed.  
Yeah, that one didn’t seem too far fetched at all and could explain the scurrying you heard. It was very likely a cat leaving you a gift. Or maybe some bird dropped its meal?  
  
God, you really had no clue which of those was more likely. But the feeling of being watched had yet to be shaken and that absolutely did not help you at all.

 

After staring into the dark abyss in front of you for a bit, you decided that there was likely no one out there and it was almost positively your paranoia.  
You began to head inside, eager to see if the pumpkin seeds were done and also to find out how to dispose of the poor animal's corpse.

“You found a what?” Pure astonishment ran through your friend’s features as they listened to you, once again, say you found a dead rabbit right next to you and that you had managed to accidentally step on it.  
  
“Please tell me you left your other shoe outside, I don’t want blood in here.” They whined to you, obviously not very creeped out by the fact you had found a dead rabbit right next to where you stood.  
  
“Yes, I left it outside and didn’t track any blood through the house, I promise you that. Aren’t you worried about the fact that, y’know, a dead animal was right next to me though?”  
They were a huge animal lover and while you definitely were too, they were always the first one to freak out if roadkill was spotted.  
  
“I’ve been finding a bunch of critter corpses recently, it’s rather saddening and creepy but as I’ve said, stray cats have been very abundant in the public eye as of a couple weeks ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve decided to leave the locals such as myself some presents.” They opened the oven as they explained, apparently the seeds had finished baking.  
  
The wonderful smell permeated throughout the room, leaving the kitchen feeling far more homely than before. You could almost feel yourself relaxing just by the general aesthetic of it.  
  
“I figured. The hell are we supposed to do with the poor thing’s body though?” You asked them. They set the tray of seeds down on the oven top to cool and turned to you.  
“I’ve got gloves, plastic bags, a garbage can, and hand sanitizer. I’m sure we can make do.” They moved past you to the row of cabinets where they kept the majority of said items at.  
  
You hummed in response, a little sad you wouldn’t be able to eat any of the seeds until next week.  
“Also, you need to clean the blood off my patio because that was also your fault technically because the corpse got squished by your foot.”  
  
Today was shaping up to be a long marathon of hosing down your friend’s property.  
  
  
After disposing of the rabbit’s corpse and hosing down the blood off their patio, you were finally almost ready to leave your friend's house for your own.  
  
It was almost 7, you were sure of it, and the next bus toward your neighborhood left around that time. The only thing keeping you from going home was the fact that your own pants were still in the dryer, your friend had offered to clean them for you and you happily agreed. It seemed you underestimated how long that would take though.  
  
“I figured you’d of realized at this point in our friendship, but you can wear those out and we can trade tomorrow if you want. You’re going to miss the bus otherwise.” Your friend warned you, sitting next to you as you both aimlessly watched reruns of some older cartoon.  
  
“I know, I would just prefer to wear my own pants home y’know? I don’t want to make a mess of yours or anything on the way back, with my luck today I’ll probably fall into a puddle.” They chuckled at that, fondly recounting your own misery as if it was a joke to them. Which, to be fair, it absolutely was.  
“If I’m being honest, I don’t really care if you get them messy or ruin them, I’d rather you not miss the bus than me lose some sweatpants I haven’t even worn in ages.” They reassured you, trying to persuade you into the more safe option of not walking home.  
  
You gave into their reasoning, you’d rather not take your chances with the night considering just how jumpy you’ve been today.  
“I guess you make a good point, thank you for being so understanding.” You gave them a kind smile, grateful you had such a thoughtful friend. They gave you a thumbs up, a smile of their own making its way to their face.  
“It's no problem at all, man. Now get going before you miss it!”  
Standing and waving them a goodbye, you made your way to the door.  
  
Leaving, you picked the pumpkin from its place and put it in your backpack as you started your walk to the bus stop, just outside the neighborhood.  
  
The darkness wasn’t so scary as you listened to the music from your phone as you were making your way down the sidewalk.  
  
Unfortunately for you, you had forgotten to buy a new set of earbuds last time you were at a convenience store as you had lost your old ones.  
So you were stuck listening to the music somewhat muffled from your pocket as you made your trek through the night.  
  
Eventually, you began mindlessly humming with the song. It was a pleasant one, one that filled you with feelings of both calmness and melancholy. It was soft, nice, but something of the way the lyrics drifted struck you as unfortunate; a feeling of being ok with whatever happened or is happening, though it really sucks.  
  
Mindless humming turned to mumbles of the lyrics and you could definitely tell you were walking with a swing in your step. You were getting far too carried away.  
  
You continued with this to the next song, feeling rather good considering you were out in the middle of the dark, acting like a fool on the sidewalk.  
  
It was only 3 songs later did you realize it had been far later than you expected. As you checked your phone to turn on a different song, your eyes laid a glance at the time and you swear, your eyeballs felt like they were going to pop out of your skull.  
  
“Of fucking course, I’ve got to be late by 5 minutes, why not.” You mumbled, eyes narrowing at the device in front of you. The bus stop wasn’t too far away now, just another couple yards, a turn and you’d be there but you honestly did not want to run.  
How stupid it was of you to just start practically dancing and singing out in the middle of the night when you had to be at the bus stop soon if you didn’t want to risk being late and having to walk home.  
  
You could practically feel the self-loathing brewing and you knew that now was not the time, that you had to focus on running to the bus stop if you wanted even a sliver of a chance to make it. So you did just that; you dashed as fast as you could to your desired destination, looking like a complete lunatic. As if you didn’t look so before.  
  
You turned the corner, the bus stop was now in sight and the bus was still there. You could nearly hear your heart beating, you hadn’t run that fast in ages. You jogged to the stop, only to realize that the doors had already been closed. You nearly screamed, seeing the bus take its leave right in front of you, going the direct opposite way from where you stood.  
  
There was no way the driver saw you, you were facing the back of the bus after all. So, now you were stuck walking home unless you wanted to wait 2 hours for another bus to come by.  
 And quite frankly, as much as you did not want to walk that far, you knew damn well it’d be faster than waiting 2 hours.  
  
And so you began on your 20 to 30 minute night walk home. What the hell could possibly go wrong you wondered.  
  
  
It wasn’t even 10 minutes into the walk that the feeling of being watched dawned on you as it had before, only this time you were completely alone and without a house to take shelter in.  
  
You cursed yourself for being such a complete fool as to not just leave your friend’s house sooner, or to have not pranced around like an absolute buffoon when you already knew you were running late.  
  
It wasn’t too uncommon for self-hatred to plague your mind, it was only that this time you had no solace from them and the fact you felt like you were being watched made the whole situation feel far worse.  
You kept hearing footsteps coming from behind you but each and every time you turned to look, no one was there.  
You felt as if you were going crazy, even on your worst days you weren’t constantly looking over your shoulder. This was something new entirely it seemed.  
  
It appeared like tonight just wasn’t your night at all. You just wanted to get home and relax, it really wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?  
  
Maybe you didn’t deserve it, you were the one acting so recklessly. Seriously, what were you thinking, being a complete dumbass out in the middle of the night singing and dancing when you had a bus to catch?  
  
It became apparent that escaping these thoughts in favor of more positive, constructive ones tonight was going to be impossible.  
  
You figured you could resume your tomfoolery, at least now you weren’t in need of a bus to catch and it’d probably help with the growing paranoia of someone following you. Speaking of that paranoia, it only felt to be getting worse as you quickly turned your head to an unfamiliar noise.  
Nothing, absolutely nothing was there as usual. It made no sense how you knew it was just your mind playing tricks on you but you still fell for it every time. It was infuriating, completely frustrating.  
  
With one last breath, you swore you wouldn’t act like a fool in public once more as now you weren’t in some neighborhood but on the sidewalk that lined a street.  
  
Turning on your phone and shuffling through some music, you clicked the play button and listened to the familiar sound of muffled music play through the pocket of your borrowed pants.  
Finally, you felt as you could make the way home in at least some peace.  
  
That thought on the street had been lingering, however, why wasn’t anyone out right now? You had been so paranoid you didn’t even consider just how strange it was that you were walking in quiet streets with no passers-by and rarely any cars.  
You swore you only saw about 3 and that was almost criminally strange considering people usually got off work this time.

This was not helping your situation at all, it felt as if you were walking through a ghost town. Familiar stores lined the street, colorfully decorated with warm oranges, reds, and yellows. All closed, even the ones you knew for a fact would still be open right now.  
  
Did something happen? The quiet in the neighborhood was typical, no one is out in their yards during the chilly evening of October, save for Halloween.  
But the sidewalks that had shops lining them? The streets which would usually be full of cars around this time? No, this was bizarre beyond belief, this was something different from the usual entirely. And god, did you hate it.  
  
It was only then that you felt your phone buzz in your pants. It was likely your friend asking if you missed the bus or not.  
  
_Hey did you catch the bus?_  
  
You slowed your pace so you wouldn’t end up hitting a street lamp or stop sign as you typed.  
_Nope! I ended up goofing off by accident and missed it like an idiot, now I'm walking home_.    
  
You held the phone by your side as you picked up your pace again, waiting for a response. At least this would take your mind off the eeriness that surrounded the area.  
  
_Apparently, someone's body was found a little ways from Sidbury Street, which is where I assume you are. Everyone who was working was asked to close down, at least that's what they said on the news. Traffic has been blocked off too, all the way from Duncan to Bittersweet. My pal has apparently been stuck in the same spot for about 2 hours, it's crazy dude._  
  
A hand raised to your mouth as you read the text once more, no longer moving. Millions of thoughts flooded your mind, not one of them good. All you knew was you needed to get home and fast.  
  
With a whole new level of fear coursing through you, you ran as fast as you could home, avoiding the area where the body was found.

 


	2. October 25th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Costume shopping and lunch. Easy right? Right??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so quick note, this isn't going off of any particular backstory or anything, this is mostly just me remembering the basis of the original story and then adding my own takes on it. Like I always do. Anyways because of that this might seem really strange and shit but I promise it's going somewhere. I promise.

When you woke up, the first thing you noticed was that you were shaking. The second thing you noticed was that you were covered in sweat. And the third thing you noticed? You were parched.  
  
You must’ve had a nightmare that you couldn’t remember, that would explain why you felt the way you did. Sitting up and stretching, you looked over to the clock on your bedside table to see it was half-past ten in the morning. Luckily, you had nothing planned today. Not anything that you could remember at least.  
  
You pulled yourself out of bed, immediately wanting to change out of your sweat-soaked pajamas and grab something to drink. So you did just that; changing into some new clothes and making your way to your kitchen for some water.  
You felt a chill go down your spine as you walked through your bedroom to the hallway as if something was once again watching you.  
Memories of yesterday were starting to flood back as you continued to walk, making you feel slightly anxious. You had made it home safe, of course. You wouldn’t have been home otherwise. But you hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of being watched until you were busy eating dinner, too preoccupied you guessed.  
  
Grabbing a glass, you turned on the tap and filled your cup up, watching as the water swished around. Thinking to yourself more, you supposed that was why you had a nightmare; all of the terror you had experienced the day before.  
  
You moved back to your bedroom, sipping from your glass as you went, enjoying the refreshing feeling. Hydration truly was a wonderful thing.  
  
Lying in bed once again, you sat your cup down to check your phone. Nothing new had been sent to you overnight it seemed. Not that that was out of the ordinary.  
You figured you could catch up on some more sleep but that train of thought was quickly interrupted by your phone buzzing. That was a rare occurrence.  
  
You picked up the phone quickly, not thinking much on if you recognized the number, only to hear what seemed to be static on the other end. A gulp and you spoke.  
  
“Hello? Is anyone there?”  
  
Of course, you were only met with more static, the person on the other end seemingly making no attempts at conversation. Just as you were about to bid a farewell to the mystery caller and then promptly block their number, they spoke.  
Mumbled, barely audible all you could make out was surprising. And rather unsettling.  
  
“Good morning.” They spoke sounding muffled and quiet.  
  
You froze up, confused and rather scared. Who the hell is this and why were they calling you? Just as you were about to ask, the call ended abruptly, leaving you even more confused and scared.  
  
Trying to call them back didn’t seem to work as all you were met with was a quick ‘This number does not exist’. Terrified, you took in a few deep breaths. What the hell was up with you recently?  
  
  
After your initial freak out you decided being alone today was not going to suit you well at all. So you did what any paranoid recluse would do; you called up your one close friend and asked them about their plans for the day.  
  
“(Y/n), do I seem like the kind of person to turn down an invitation to hang out with their best friend? Do I really?”  
  
You paced back and forth around your living room as you talked on the phone. It was a surprise they were up this early honestly, they usually slept until 2 pm.  
They always excused it, saying they worked late shifts, but you had known them since you were young. Sleeping in late wasn’t a job accommodation at all for them.

  
“Well I mean, sort of? You get out a lot more than me so I just figured I’d call and ask first. You might’ve had a doctors appointment or a-”  
  
“Ok, I get it, I could’ve had something important today. Point is, I don’t.” You could hear an annoyed sigh through the phone, bringing a bit of a smile to your face. Playing smart with your friend was always a joy.  
  
“We can maybe go costume shopping? I mean, I know we can’t go trick-or-treating anymore but it’d still be fun to dress up, wouldn’t it?” In all honesty, you were probably going to go costume shopping sometime this week whether they agreed to or not. It was part of the holiday fun, after all.  
  
“Good idea! I’m not paying.”  
  
“You’re shitting me.” You drew out the ‘me’ in your sentence, whining at their cheapness.  
  
“Nope, I don’t get paid until after Halloween and I already bought both of us pumpkins. You can get your own costume but unless you pay for mine, I can’t really get anything.”  
  
A huff and then a nod came as you understood. You thought for a moment, telling them to hang on as you thought.  
  
“Alright, but try to just get a cheap mask or something, it’s not like I’m doing great on money either.”  
  
You could hear their smile through their voice, “Deal. Also, remember to bring back my sweats.”   
  
  
A shower and one half-assed breakfast later, you were ready to go, walking out of your home and to the bus stop. The wind felt like it was blowing you there just as it did with the leaves; as if it would simply carry you to your desired destination with no effort on your part. That would be nice.  
But unfortunately for you, instead of a windy little ride, the only thing you felt by staying still was fear. The feeling of being watched didn’t just linger, it had returned and worse than ever.  
  
You tried calming yourself, the bus stop was a short walk and no one would try anything in broad daylight, right? You drifted into thought, remembering the dead body they had found yesterday, not far at all from where you were the night before.  
  
Nothing like that really happened around your town, a robbery or two maybe every once in a while, but a murder? That hadn’t happened in years! You couldn’t even recount the last time something like that had even happened, it was just so long ago.  
  
The familiar bench coming into your line of sight broke you from your thoughts as you noticed that you weren’t alone. Not that you felt like you were before, anyways.  
  
A figure dressed in a black hoodie and sweats sat on the side of the bench farthest from you, looking off at...something. You couldn’t find anything of interest in the general direction they were staring at.  
When you looked back to them, you quickly took notice that they were facing you. Not that you could tell if they were looking at you exactly, whatever was going on under the hood being completely obscured.  
  
You looked away and took a seat, not wanting to appear rude. You might’ve said hello if it wasn’t for the fact you felt something strange about this mysterious figure.

It felt like they were a walking red flag to your subconscious for whatever reason, like you shouldn’t be near them. A thought momentarily came through your head, making your breath hitch; was that person following you the day before? Were they the reason you couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched?  
  
You didn’t have much time to process these rather irrational thoughts as your bus pulled up, distracting you from what likely could’ve turned into a panic attack.  
Standing, you hastily made it onto the bus, thankful that the walking red alert had stayed in place. Or so you thought at least.  
  
  
“Man, they really don’t have a great selection of costumes this year, huh (Y/n)?”  
  
“We literally have been here for less than 3 minutes, silly.”  
  
You had only just arrived at the costume store, browsing through the stocked shelves to see if anything caught either of your eyes. Your paranoia had seemingly vanished while on the bus, something you were immensely grateful for despite not typically enjoying a crying baby right next to you. At least it was cute.  
  
“Oh, oh, (Y/n), look,” Your friend quickly turned to you, pulling your head out of the clouds.  
  
“Wh-,” Your questioning was quickly interrupted as you shrieked at the bloody-faced ghoul in front of you. And then you realized that the bloody-faced ghoul in front of you was just your sick humored friend, who was now cackling.  
  
You were fuming, “I swear to god, stop doing that!”  
  
“Shhhhh! Someone might actually think you are getting mauled in here.” They warned as they took off that stupid little mask.  
  
A little embarrassed, you looked around. Thankfully, it seemed like the store wasn’t too full, no one was in that aisle besides you two at least.  
  
“Whatever,” You paused, wondering if that was what they wanted to buy, “is that what you want to get? I figured you would’ve gone with something more classy and less...rubbery.”  
  
“Hey, I'll have you know this is high-end fright material. I just got confirmation of that, at least.” They snickered.  
  
You didn’t respond, you weren’t in the mood for bickering over how easily scared you were over a cheap mask. But you were in the mood for what your eyes laid on next.  
  
“Oh, I want that.”  
  
A grim reaper costume with the usual black hooded cloak and plastic scythe. But the thing you really wanted? The mask.  
It was some sort of full face mesh but with what seemed to be unlit lights around the eyes. You grabbed it off the display hanger and got a better look at it.  
A small switch was in the back, you assumed that activated the lights. The cloak looked like it might be a bit too long for you but scissors were a thing at least.  
  
“Those lights are going to burn your eyes the second you put that mask on and turn them on, you know.”

 

You turned to face your friend who was being skeptical as ever.  
  
“At least if I go blind I’ll do it by looking bitching.”  
  
“How much does it even cost?”  
  
You turned the costume bag around; 40 dollars. Biting your lip, you thought. That was definitely going over your budget. Unfortunately for your bank account, however, you were impulsive and were digging that mask way too much to let it go.  
  
“40 dollars but I have enough.” You smiled, hoping they wouldn’t catch onto your half lie. They did of course though.  
  
“(Y/n), I’m not gonna boss you around or tell you what to do but are you seriously about to spend 40 dollars on a costume, just for the mask? A mask that probably won’t even work and if it does, will blind your eyes?”  
  
“You bet your ass I am.” You said with a smile, walking off with the costume further into the orange-walled and grey tiled store.  
  
“You’re going the wrong way, you know!”  
  
But you just kept on walking.  
  
  
There really was only one person in the whole world that could get lost inside a tiny little costume store and, unfortunately, that one person was you.  
It hadn’t been long, maybe 10 minutes since you ignored your friend's warning and ventured farther into the store, despite the checkout counter being the other way. But here you were, not knowing where the entrance was and afraid to ask anyone for help because you were embarrassed. Truly upsetting.  
  
At least the decorations on display were cool. Small bits and pieces of a haunted house and its scenery were displayed in front of you, glowing ominously as a skeleton hand beckoned you to a door.  
You doubted it actually led to anywhere but a dead end. You doubted checking to see would lead you toward the entrance with the checkout. You doubted going over and checking would lead to anything good. But you were curious and mysteriously drawn to the beckoning, boney hand, walking closer and closer to it.  
And then you were pulled in.  
  
You screamed so loud, only to have a gloved hand clamp over your mouth as you found your eyes so wide, they might as well have popped out of your skull. It was dark but lit up by neon lights inside, and it was a frighteningly small space. Your heart pounded, about to leap from your chest.  
You struggled but whatever had a hold on you was far stronger and ceased to let go. It was pulling you deeper into the extremely dedicated and realistic decorations, making you panic even more.  
  
Eventually, as it continued to pull you in, you felt it ‘caress’ where it held you, your mouth and back practically being pet as you continued to struggle. What the fuck was going on? You kicked your legs and tried to shake yourself away harder. But you were getting tired of struggling, exhausted even.  
You couldn’t even get a good look at your kidnapper before you felt light headed. You were going to faint, oh god, you were going to faint. But then the unexpected happened. Your friend shouted for you and suddenly you felt a lot more conscious.  
  
“Y/n! Y/n, where the hell did you go!?”  
  
And then it’s grip on you ceased, and you were pushed out of the nightmare you had been so easily dragged into. It felt so much deeper but if you were able to be pushed out, it couldn’t have been that big, could it? Either way, you landed on your knees, right in front of your friend. Your friend looked down at you, a rather surprised look on their face.  
  
“Where the fuck have you been?” They asked, helping you to your feet.  
  
“I got lost and…” You trailed off, not sure if you really wanted to tell them what had just happened.  
They tilted their hand and made a gesture motion implying they were expecting an explanation. Was telling them you just got dragged into a tiny ass haunted house by some lunatic really believable?  
Would they wave you off and simply blame it on your active imagination despite the fact that what happened was no doubt real. It didn’t matter much it seemed since they came up with their own answer.  
  
“Got lost and wandered into a haunted house, huh?”  
  
Never had you been so happy they were the most impatient son of a bitch on the planet.  
  
“Yeah! Exactly that, silly ol’ me. Haha.” You nervously laughed, hoping they would believe you were being genuine and not 100% lying out of your ass.  
  
They looked at you funny before smiling and pulling you along, telling you how funny it was that you got lost in such a small store.  
Hoping it was really just your imagination, you took a deep breath. You cautiously looked back, only to see a black-gloved hand waving at you instead of a skeleton’s hand beckoning you. Definitely real. You felt sick.  
  
  
  
You didn’t leave your friend’s side the rest of the day out.  
The fear of being dragged into some alley and getting killed like the man who had recently met the same fate was so great, you were sure you would’ve cried had it not been the friend next to you.   
After checking out of the store, you both walked around and did some window shopping until deciding you were both hungry, in which you got a late lunch at a cheap diner.   
  
They talked as you both waited as you commented occasionally. Your mind hadn’t left the incident and you honestly felt more paranoid than you had in years.   
Turning your head at every step, jumping out of your skin when the waiter popped up behind you to take your order. Your heart still felt like it was going to jump out of your chest.  
  
You looked around the diner, hoping to maybe ease your mind a bit. You’d been there many times before, the food was good and the service was nice. It was retro-themed in a way, baby blue walls and checkered flooring. The booths and chairs were sleek and dark with red faux leather cushioning.   
There was a claw machine near the entrance, maybe if you had spare change you and your friend could play. You doubted it though.  
You sat near a window but there wasn’t much to view. It was so cloudy outside but at least the trees were pretty with their warm hues.   
  
As you continued to watch the leaves rustle, you heard approaching footsteps from behind you. Your eyes widened, your heartbeat quickening. You could feel yourself shake and tremble, familiar fear piercing through you.  
You whipped your head around so fast, you were surprised you didn’t crack your neck. An older man and what you assumed to be his child sat in the booth behind you. The kid looked back at you, they seemed a little scared.   
  
You turned back with a sigh, rubbing your eyes and placing your head in your hand. You were still trembling.  
  
“Man, are you ok? I haven’t seen you this shaky in ages.”   
  
You chuckled, not earnestly, hoping you could lie your way out of your friend’s prodding, “Ha, I’m fine! That store just had some really horrific decorations is all!”  
  
They weren’t buying it, you could tell by how they shifted, the look on their face. But whatever higher power that was possibly above was kind to you in this endeavor, as they simply snickered.  
  
“The decorations really scared you that bad? It was mostly skeletons and scarecrows with the occasional neon gravestone. You really are a scaredy cat, you know.”  
  
You only nodded, still keeping up your fake laugh. Why oh why did whatever freak that was seemingly following you have to pick you to stalk? You were already paranoid enough as it is. Not to mention it was completely ruining your totally radical Halloween with your best friend.  
Speaking of Halloween with your best friend, your mind was able to drift away from the more alarming topics of the week to far lighter ones as the waiter approached, putting your food on the table without much discussion.   
  
“Hey, so I know we are going to do something for Halloween but you still haven’t told me what it is. So could you, like, tell me?” The question came out weird but at least they would get the point you hoped.   
  
They looked up from their food, a little confused at first before understanding what you meant, “Oh yeah! Ok so you don’t really know them very well but you know a couple of my co-workers right?”   
  
“Oh, good grief! Please don’t tell me you invited that one jackass that was at that barbeque a couple of months ago. One of my favorite shirts was completely ruined by his idiocy!”  
  
“No, oh my god, absolutely not. That guy got fired anyway, he went against, uh, employee health policy. I think.”   
  
You let out a sigh of relief, thankful you wouldn’t have to see the same man on your favorite holiday.   
  
“So who all are you talking about, if not that guy? And what will we be doing with them?”   
  
“If all goes according to plan, 2 of my co-workers and you should be coming to a movie marathon that I will be hosting at my house. Along with a cool chick who I met, like, 4 months ago at a movie store. She gets super sick discounts so she’ll be supplying the movies.”   
  
Your eyes lit up, excited at the prospect at maybe making some new friends and maybe watching some movies you hadn’t seen yet. And then your face became deflated when you remembered that this was Halloween and they were going to make you watch horror movies.   
  
“I swear to god if you put on anything besides cheap slasher films that obviously aren’t scary I will kill you!”   
  
They put a hand over their heart, feigning innocence as you almost slammed your fist on the table before realizing you were in a public space.   
  
“Why, I would never! But that really depends on what you define as ‘obviously not scary’, (Y/n), I really cannot be the judge there!” They winked with a smirk.   
  
“You are the most inconsiderate friend ever.”   
  
“Here, ok, I have an idea,” They offered. You raised an agitated eyebrow. “I’ll play all the not so scary movies first and then when we finish those you can hand out candy or sleep. Or something like that while the other 3 and I watch the real deal shit.”   
  
It honestly sounded like they were treating you like a kid sibling in this situation but you didn’t really care honestly. That did raise a question though.  
  
“Fine, that sounds ok I guess. But what do you mean sleep? Am I allowed to sleep over?”   
  
“(Y/n), the number of movies I was able to bargain with Claire to get is going to last us until at least 2 am. I expect you to sleep over.”  
  
You smiled a little. Maybe this Halloween wouldn’t be so bad after all.   
  
“And not to be rude or anything but if you aren’t going to eat your food can I have it? You haven’t touched it at all.”   
  
“Over my dead body.” You said, eating your meal at a rate that even god would fear.   
  
  
  
Maybe that was bad phrasing considering all the things that have been going on lately. And considering what was waiting for you as you entered your home.  
  
The rest of the day had passed by pleasantly. You still felt a bit on edge but with your friend by your side, you were mostly all smiles and laughter. After that late lunch of your’s, you both went to the park, just hanging out and enjoying each others company. It was nice.  
Until it had to end.  
  
You had gotten home with no issues but as soon as you had gotten off the bus it seemed as if all the gravity from earlier today had come back full force.  
The hair on the back of your neck standing, you entered your humble abode a lot more quietly than any normal person would do.  
  
Dropping your costume bag on a nearby side table, you looked around; what the hell was making you so paranoid now? There was no reason to be so scared yet here you were, about to jump out of your skin at nothing. Or, at least that was what you thought until you saw something on your coffee table.  
  
A gift box wrapped rather delicately, ribbons and all. A letter sat on top of it, begging you to read it.  
  
Who the fuck got into your house? Why the hell would they leave you a present? Should you call the cops?  
Of course, all of these questions ran through your head but you found yourself walking toward the table anyways. You knew you shouldn’t open it, this was stupid. There could be a bomb in it or some other sort of instant death ‘gift’.  
  
You picked up the letter, trying to make sure nothing was amiss with it before reading it. Yellow lined paper with words written in blue ink. The paper had been crumbled and uncrumpled it would seem, judging by its texture and appearance.  
A few drops of what you assumed to be ink were dabbled alongside the page but you didn’t pay much mind to them, they weren’t obscuring any text at least,  
Nothing seemed to indicate the letter would kill you, at least, so you decided you would read what it said.  
  
_See you Wednesday_

 _\- J_  
  
You stood there for a good 2 minutes or so, just breathing in and out. Hyperventilating right after someone had broken into your house was not a great idea.  
  
Dropping the note back on top of the box, you sat on the soft sofa behind you, letting it take in your form with ease. You held your head in your hands as your eyes bore holes into the ground. What in god's name were you supposed to do about this?  
  
You could call the cops; that seemed like the most normal thing to do. Let them handle it, give them the box, completely forget these past few days ever happened.  
  
But what if they accused you of making shit up? You had already touched the letter, your fingerprints likely covered up the ones of the person who actually wrote it, if they weren’t wearing gloves that is.  
  
Even that aside, this wasn’t a whole lot of evidence. A box and letter that may or may not have fingerprints, recounts of attempted...something, a general feeling of being watched.  
No one was there witness to these things. How were you supposed to prove any of this to people that could help you? You didn’t even know what this mystery stalker looked like besides they wore dark clothing. That is, assuming, the person that broke into your house is also the one who grabbed you at the costume shop.  
  
But in the end you were still in the dark, you were still afraid, you were still helpless. But maybe you could change that around. Maybe.  
  
With one last look at the coffee table, you lay down on the couch and close your eyes. It had been a very long day. And it was going to be an even longer week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why does it take me 4+ months to write chapters? To be fair I'm trying to make each of them at least 3000+ words and also I'm just not a fast writer. If you notice any grammatical errors, do tell. Feedback is appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> As previously stated, an update schedule isn't exactly a thing in my book however this took me about 3 months to write so hopefully that might give an idea as to how long 4k-5k chapters take me.  
> I appreciate any and all comments and kudos, along with patience. And yes, I am incredibly ashamed of myself for writing this in the year of our Lord 2018.
> 
> The eyeless man himself will appear more and more as chapters go on, it'd be a little strange if he just appeared all of a sudden in the first chapter, wouldn't it? I promise however, he will make a grand appearance.


End file.
